


To the Farthest Reaches of the Sky

by rad_twister



Series: the skybound AU [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:15:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28954839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rad_twister/pseuds/rad_twister
Summary: With most of the team captured in the Djinn Blade and Jay dead, it's looking pretty dismal for the Ninja. Still, they won't give up yet. No matter what, they've got to keep going. If it takes them to the ends of the earth or the farthest reaches of the sky, they're going to make this right, free their friends, and save the world one more time.
Series: the skybound AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122647
Comments: 10
Kudos: 17





	To the Farthest Reaches of the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> wooo guess who's still alive!! buckle up your seatbelts and get ready for this tragic ride, folks

“We need a plan.” As they flew across the dark waters in the Commissioner's helicopter, Lloyd still had his mind stuck on the inevitable fight that loomed in the future like a storm cloud spanning the entire horizon. In lieu of thinking about what just happened, he opted to stick to battles. It was safer to think about that. It didn’t hurt as much.

Meanwhile, the men on the aircraft were silent, still in shock over the recent events. Ronin was inwardly telling himself that he never cared about the Lightning Ninja that much, and that they’d been neutral to each other in the past. His vision _wasn’t_ blurry. The Police Commissioner was quiet as well, because he knew this wasn’t his place to talk. Other than offering a quick apology for distrusting the Ninja, he kept his thoughts to himself and kept his stoic gaze focused on the vague direction of Ninjago Island. 

However, the _other_ two Ninja weren’t quite as composed. Cole and Nya had stopped arguing for the time being, but their anger now found its misplaced target in their leader, and the two turned on him with expressions of disapproval, as if it was so terrible that Lloyd could even suggest such a thing.

“Not yet! Jay deserves a funeral,” Nya bit, leaving no room for argument. “Somebody has to tell his parents. This isn’t something we can just shove under the carpet for later!”

“She’s right,” Cole agreed. “I want to beat those pirates’ faces in, but it— it has to wait.”

They landed at the nearest police station’s landing pad soon after. The remaining Ninja of the quickly-dwindling team spent the night making arrangements to deal with their friend’s death. The medical examiner did nothing but confirm that the death was, indeed, caused by both a cytotoxic envenomation and blood loss. When morning came they were all exhausted, but none of them could sleep even if they wanted to. And they didn’t. 

When the sun rose they found themselves in a funeral home, tiredly watching the sky get brighter. 

Cole coughed, breaking the silence. There was something that they all knew they had to do weighing heavily in the air. “We have to tell his parents.”

“It’s only a few hours’ ride on our dragons,” Lloyd responded, stifling a yawn.

“Sounds good to me.” Nya stood up and left the funeral home with fast, purposeful strides, unable to stand it in the building for a moment longer now that she had an excuse to leave. She summoned her dragon and was ready to go before the other two walked out the front doors. In a few more seconds, two more dragons had appeared, looking sadder than usual. 

Civilians on the streets stopped and stared in their usual amazement as the three Ninja took off into the sky, heading for the Sea of Sand. The sunrise—that painted the landscape in pinks and gold, the dunes almost glowing—looked dull today. The whole world and its splendor had been abruptly muted, and none of them could imagine a time when it would be back to normal.

They touched down in front of the scrapyard in the early morning, their dragons disappearing nearly instantaneous to the moment their feet hit the sand. Together, the Elemental Masters of Earth, Water, and Energy walked beneath the sign that cheerfully read “ _Ed & Edna’s Scrap N Junk _” to break the bad news.

Lloyd knocked on the trailer’s door. Not much time later it swung open to reveal the Walkers, who smiled upon seeing the three familiar faces looking up at them. Apparently being early risers, they’d already had tea brewing and warmly invited the Ninja inside. 

“Good heavens, you look exhausted!” Edna exclaimed upon getting a better look at the three. “With all that’s been going on I can understand why. Here, have some muffins. They’re fresh baked.” She handed them each a plate with a warm blueberry muffin on it, urging them to sit down and enjoy breakfast.

“How are the others?” Ed asked, setting out cups and taking the teapot off the stove. “Oh and next time you see Jay, please tell him to call us! We’ve been so worried about him, what with that fiasco at the museum and all.”

They exchanged sad looks.

Lloyd was the first to respond. “A lot of us, um, aren’t around anymore.”

Both Ed and Edna grew worried. “Well, where are they?” Edna asked.

Trying not to cry, Nya told them. “Kai, Zane, Sensei Wu, and Misako have all been captured by a Djinn pirate. It sounds crazy, but they’re currently in his sword.”

“That’s quite a confounding problem,” Ed commented.

“And Jay is, well—” Cole’s voice broke a little. “In a recent mission, things didn’t go so well, and he got hurt. Jay is dead.” Saying it out loud hurt, and Cole’s shoulders hunched, trying to keep himself together.

At first, Jay’s parents were quiet, until Edna suddenly grew faint, dropping the tea on the floor. Thankfully it didn’t splash enough to give any of them burns, but the cup shattered into multiple pieces, unsalvageable. If she wasn’t already sitting down, she surely would’ve collapsed right then and there. As it was, she appeared as though a gentle breeze was enough to push her over. 

“What?” Ed’s voice, which was usually so jovial, now grew desperate. “Dead? No, no, that can’t be right, he promised us he wouldn’t get himself hurt when he decided to do this whole ninja business, he— no, he wouldn’t get into any situation like that! You must be mistaken.”

“His body is at the Ninjago City Mortuary Center,” Nya informed with a soft voice. 

None of them had slept at all, and now none of them ate the following morning. How could they, when their chests felt heavy and their bones impossibly hollow?

The ceremony was, like most funerals, a solemn business.

It hurt even worse since the Red and White Ninja and their Sensei weren’t present, trapped in the Sword of Souls for the time being. 

Nya wanted her brother to be here, but he wasn’t, and she didn’t know how to manage this emotional load without him. It felt stupid and pathetic to still be so reliant on Kai, but he was her guardian ever since she was little. Sure, they didn’t always get along, but he was the closest connection she had, and she _missed_ him. She missed him so much. It sort of felt like he was dead too, but she had to keep reminding herself that he could be saved. She hadn’t lost everyone yet, and at that moment she made a vow that she would do _everything_ in her power to get the rest of her team back, or Nya would die trying. 

Cole, meanwhile, couldn’t stop the flood of memories this gave him, all the way back to when Zane sacrificed himself in order to defeat the Golden Master some years back. The titanium statue still stood proudly, a reminder of what was lost that day, but since then the team had regained their coolheaded, beloved nindroid back. Cole would never forget that ceremony, the tears he’d shed, how his voice had wavered when he was asked to speak… and how there hadn’t been anything left of Zane except a single faceplate. They’d since re-lost that beloved nindroid, and his absence made Cole feel emptier, somehow, although he didn’t know how that was possible. He hated that he was burying one of his friends again, but wouldn’t dare hope that this time would be as fortunate as the last. Something told him that he wasn’t getting his teammate back this time. 

Lloyd spoke to an audience of hundreds as the entirety of Ninjago mourned. He reminisced over the fun memories and reflected on the moments of growth. The team would not be whole without the Blue Ninja.

Ed and Edna spoke afterwards. They praised their son for the hero he was, admitting that he was a light in their life and that they couldn’t imagine life without him. 

Lanterns floated into the air. Bouquets of delphinium and forget-me-nots and other blue flowers were placed around Jay’s grave. 

When it was all over and everyone had left, Cole stuck around. He pressed his palms into the dirt in front of Jay’s tomb and shaped the earth, channeling his grief and raising a memorial statue out of hewn stone. The ground rumbled, and when it was finished he stepped back to look over his handiwork. A void opened within the ghost when he looked at that childish smile—one he’d never forget, not even in a thousand years—perfectly replicated from his memory. Cole sighed. “From one dead guy to another… this _sucks_. The world feels empty without you,” he murmured. “I don’t know how to carry on.”

The day turned back to night again.

Cole didn’t sleep. The other two passed out, but he couldn’t. As a ghost he didn’t really need to, but still, in the past he’d been able to drift off when he wanted to. Not tonight. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the saddened look Jay gave him before he went alone into the Tiger Widow’s nest. Guilt tore at his mind until the early hours of the morning.

Nya barely ate this time, but still managed to eat something at Lloyd’s insistence that they’d all need their strength. The threat to Ninjago’s safety hadn’t been allayed, and they had to be at their best if they were going to defeat the Sky Pirates.

Now that they were all gathered, Lloyd cleared his throat and repeated what he’d said a day and a half ago. 

“We need a plan.”


End file.
